Grain door for railway cars



E. POSSON.

GRAIN DOOR FOR RAILWAY CARS.

' Patented Apr.-18, 1922.

I s [I a UNITED srerss EDWARD POSSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF i MAEGLY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

earner orrics.

T0 FREDERICK C.

GRAIN DOOR FOR RAILWAY CARS.

" Specification of Letters Patent. p t t APR 18,

Continuation in part of application Serial No. 101,798, filed June 5, 1916.. This application filed January I 18, 1918. Serial No; 212,453.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, EDWARD POSSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Grain Doors for Railway Cars, of which the followingfis a specification. i 5

This invention relates to an improved sectional grain door for railway cars, and

this application is a continuation of my prior copending application, Serial 'No. 101,798, filed June 5, 1916, as to' all subject,- matter common to the two. V

This improvementcomprises a grain door of the sectional type in which a plurality of door sections are adapted to move in guideways along the edges of the door open ing and to be supported when not in use in brackets or holders mounted usually beneath the roof of the car. The freight cars now in use are much hlgher than formerly, so

that a workman standing on the floor of a car cannot reach with his arms the door sec tions when they are mounted adjacent the roof, and it is important that the workman be able to raise or lower the door sections.

from a position either inside or outside of the car, since the sections are usually oper ated when the car is filled, or partially fillecL'wit-h grain or some other commodity,

and the workmen are then located on the outslde. Where the door sections are sup- 7 port-ed in substantially horizontal positions point adjacent the middle of 'the car roof, it is obviously inconvenient, if not impossible, for the workmen to operate the sections from point outside of the car, and

the weight of the sections makes it incon; vvenient to operate them even when the car is not filled with grain. Furthermore, the

door sections of doors of this type heretofore known have been liable to bindinthe guideways orsupports, so that they could i necessary to change the inclination of a section 1n passing it from its support to the guideways. A second important object is to provide a grain door in which the binding which the sections may be conveniently operated by a single operator located either inside oroutside of the car. ob ect is to provide a sectional grain door Still another 1 in which the door sections and the guide ways thereforhave interlocking parts to prevent removal of the sections, even when,

tilted from their normal positions A fun" ther feature is the provisionof door sections constructed to prevent blnding thereof in their gu deways and supports in combination'with means for preventingv their theft or unauthorized removalg Other objects relate to various features of construc tion and arrangement, to be pointed out more fully hereinafter. v I p The. nature of the invention will be understood more clearly from the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which one embodime.nt of the invention is illustrated. beneath the roof of the car, and where the supports for the sections are extended to a In the dra wings' through a freight car, showing side eleva= tion of improved sectional grain door, 6 interior of the car, with viewed from t h parts of the uideways broken away;

Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view Fig. 52 is a perspective view, showing my 7 improved door holderfor holding the door sections in inoperat veposit on fig. 3 is a transverse"verticalsection through the car .in a plane intersecting the doorways, the door sections at oneside'of the car being shownsupported in thebrackets while those at the other side are shown in a position closing the door opening;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view, showing. my improved bracket or holder for the door sections, viewed from the side thereof opposit'e'that shown inFig. 2; e

Fig. is a horizontal sectional view through one of the door posts, taken on the line 5-5 ot- Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged verti-al sectional view, taken through the upper part of the car and the door sections when the latter are supported by the brackets; and

Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional view, taken on the line T'? of Fig. 6.

In the accompanying drawings the side walls 10 of the. car are shown as comprising he inside sheathing l0 and the outside sheathing 10". Door openings 11 are formed through the sides of the car in the usual manner, and the door posts 12, having the sheathing 1O and 10 secured thereto, ex tend vertically at the edges oi the door openings. The upper edge of each dooropeningis bounded by a frame member 13. Metal plates 14: are mountedon the floor 15 of the ear betweenv the door posts and form door sills. The usual wall plates 16 extend longitudinally of the car above the door openings 11, and the Z-bars 18, secured to the outside of the car, serve as guideways for the usual outside doors or the car. The wall and wall plates serve to support the root 20 oi the on r and the running" board 20*, and the root is t'urther supported by the transversely extending carliues 21, which are secured at their ends to the wall'plates. These features are parts of the usual car construction, and are illustrated for the pur-- pose of explaining the application of the present invention.

The door posts 12 are notched, as shown at 12. to receive the inside sheathing 10 of the car walls, and vertically entending' door j ambs are secured to the inside sheathing and to the door posts on the inside of the ear. The metal plates 26, of Zbar form, are attached to the edgesot' the door j ambs and extend around the adjacent corners of the door posts. as shown, for instance, in lion 5. serving;- as a protection for the door jambs and the door posts. The door jambs are further out away as shown at 27, to receive the vertically evtendinn guide plates 2.. which cooperate with the metal plates .6 ot the door posts and door jalnbs to form ertical guidewa-ys 29 for the door secions Each of the door sections is constructed preferably of wood. that is, it has a wooden body portion 80, which is preferably covered by sheet metal 30* extending completely around each door section and secured thereto by suitable rivets 31. The sections (ii-(Z thus given a metallic protection without unduly increasing their weight or cost. The edges of the sections are provided with longitudinally extending notches 32 and complementary tongues or ribs 33. so that when the sections are placed together the ribs on one section will interfit with the grain. or other bulk freight, a crowbar, or

the like may be inserted between the flanges and the door sill in order. to loosen the sections and ive them an. initial upward movement.

Instead of constructing the door sections of a sutlicient length to extend throughout.

the distance between the vertical faces 26* 0t the plates 26, mounted on the door jambs,the body portion or" each door section terminates in a plane 30 which is short of the adjacent.

guideway 29Qand each section is provided on opposite ends thereof with two plates 37, which are secured to the door sections and located in suitable recesses 38 formed therein, and whichhave their ends bent trans.- versely, as shown at 37 to term flanges whiehare located within the guide'ways. as

shown, for instance, in 7. Each guide plate 28, previously described, vhas its inner edge bent inwardly in a plane extending, transversely of the car to form a flange 2S terminating short of the adjacent face 26 ot' the metal plate 26 and forming a vertical slot in the guideway to receive the body portions otthe plates 37. The flanges 28 are adapted to intertere with the transverse flanges 37, which are of greater width transversely of the car than the vertical slots of the guideways, so that the removal of the door sections from the guideways, except in a vertical direction, is prevented.

The door sections are constructed so-that when'they are in their normal positions mid way between the door jambs,the flanges 37 ot' the plates 37 occupy positions as illustrated particularly inFig's. 5 and '7. wherein it appears that the space 38 between each flange 37 and the adjacent t'ansversely extending plate 26 is greater than the space 38 between the flange 37 and the ad acent flange 28 of the guideway. The space 88 between the flange 26*and theend face 30" of the body of the door is also greater than the space 38". ot the arrangement just described. a horizontal movement o't'a door section will cause the flanges 87 at one end thereof to, engage the adjacent flange 2980f the nuide'way? before the flanges 37Fat the other end of the door engage the adjacent plates 26, and-also before the flanges 30 at the otherend of the, door coact with the flange 28 of the other.

guidevvay. When the door sections have an It will beseen that because the can. it is obviousthat there 'can be contact between the flan es' 37 and .28 atone p b end ofthedooronly and,furthermore,'1t is impossible, for the transverselyex-tending surfaces of the door sections and the, guideways to contact with each other at both ends of the door at the same time. This arrang ment effectively prevents any binding of the door sections when they 'are in horizontal positions, but the principal advantage of. this construction is that it prevents binding of the .door sections when they are tilted in vertical planes as illustrated in connection with the upper door section in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The upper door section is there shown tilted-tothe maximum possible extent, and even when so tilted there iscontact between the transverselyextendingfaces of the door sections and the guideways only at two points at diagonally oppositecorners of the doon The surfaces in contact are the upper edge ofthe flange 37 and'the flange28 of the guideway at thepoint 39. HIICl'lJhQCOIP' tact between'thes'aine flanges 37 and 28 at thediagonally opposite lower corner of the doors'ection as shown at 39";- .When the sec.- tion is tilted to its'liiniting position, the

flanges 37 do not contact with the inner walls 26 of the guideways and the end surfaces BOVo'f the body portions of the door] section do not contactwith the inner faces of the flanges 2 8 of theguideways. It is thus apparent that thedoor section is not com} pressed'between the'rigid walls of the guideways aslin the ordinary form of sectional graln door, and thatit is impossible to cause compression of the door section between rigid members even when itis moved to its limiting position. The engagementof the door section with the flanges 28% or" the guidewaysat the points 39 and 39*.sets up a tension in thedoor'section in diagonaldirec; tion betweenthe corners of the section. 'The reaction between the flanges and 28 at the diagonally opposite corners of the d oor tends to relieve the bindingofithe 'section instead of increasing it, and the reaction is between somewhat resilient metal flanges whichjreadily permitth'e door section to release itself of its own weight so'that there is no impossibility nnder the rigid require 7 merits of practical use that the door sect-ions willjfbind in the g'uideways. [The door sections are longer than the distancebetween the doorpo'sts and are locatedon the inside otthe carso that the weight of the grain forces the sections againstthe door posts andv maintains a tight closure. I Theflanges 28? terminate relatively'close to the post,-

le'aivi n'g small spaces or slots to receive the plates 37. The'plates 37 preferably do not extend throughout the vertical width of each section, but two of these plates are attached accidental displacement of the door sections oin the brackets to the guidew'ays. The ni jiper port on'ot each flange 40 is secured way;

they are supported in brackets or. holders.

40; each of which comprises an, end plate ly1ng n a vert cal plane transversely of the car, an inner transverse flange 40, an upper transverse flange 40, and a lower horizontal transverse flange 40 all of said flanges extending toward the opposite end of the doorway. At its outer edge each plate 40 is provided with a flange LO eX- I tending toward the end of the car and adapted to be secured to the door posts i 4 upper end of each plate 28 is bent horizon- 7v and'car wall by suitableYbolts 4:1. 'The tally 'as shownat 28 ,.to underlie the lower flange .40? of the adjacent bracket, and thence upwardly, as shown at 28, toengage the vertical flan'ge'ALO of the bracket.

The inner ends of the flanges'tO are bent upwardly to form vertically extending flanges or ribs 42, whichlie in the same plane {with the body portions of'the' gu de ates '28, and which are adapted to prevent tofa longitudinal frame member 43, which extends fbetween two of the carhnes 21inar'dlyjfrom the upper edge of the doorltj will be'nnderstood that when the door sections are passed from the guideways to the -brackets'they must 'be lifted over the upwardly extending shoulders 42. and for this'purpose the outer ends of the upper inclined flanges/l0 of the brackets are located above the lower flanges 40 a distance greaterthan the width of each door sectionfbut the innermost edges of the flanges ato are' spaced from the flanges 40 a distaj'n'ceonly slightly greater than the vertical width'of-the door sections. in order to prevent tilt ng of the sect ons in the brackets andfto prevent movement thereoi when the rain is in ;motion. 'l heshonlders e2 are so from the flanges 40 of the brackets thatthe' space between them will low edges of the body portionsof the door sections, as Illustrated- '111 Fig. 7, and by they are being moved into the brackets or being moved therefrom into thetguideways.

be subistantially filled by the-door sections when allot theinare placed in. inoperative positions, asshown infllig 6.;The lower 'hori- Zontal flanges 40 extend transversely to the plates in a sufiicient distance to engage the v The-upper ends of the flanges 28? have curved surfaces 28 to permit free movement of the sections to do.orclosing positions.

In the operation of this improved grain door. the workman may assume a position eitherinside or outside of thecar, where it is. impossible to reach the door sections by a direct engagement with the hands, and if it is desired to lower the sections the workman places a board, or the like, beneath the middle point of the outermost section 30 inthe bracket, and by'giving a single upward and .outward push to the lower edge thereof the outer section 30 may be passed over the shoulders 42 of the brackets and caused to fall by gravity into theguideways. In this way .the other sections may be engaged successively, and, after sliding them aslight distance on'the lower .flanges 40 they may belifted over theshoulders and allowed to fall into doorclosing position. This operation is facilitated by the fact that it is impossible for the sections to bind in the guideways because of the use of the plates 37 When it is desired to elevate the sections, each section may be raised initially by engagement with the hand-holds, then a board may be placed under the middle point of each section, and the section lifted by an upward push until the lower edge thereof passes over the shoulders 42 of. the brackets. The sections may be raised in turn, and, owing to the use of the horizontal lower flanges etO the first sections elevated may be moved over to their proper positions in the brackets with slighteifortwhen the next. succeeding section is elevated. It. will be noted that the lower edges of the brackets are located beneath the lower surface of the frame members whichv bound the upper edges of the door .openings,1so that the lower edges of the doorrsections may be engaged conveniently when supported. in the brackets. The end plates 4E0 of the brackets are spaced apart a distance adapted to prevent the bodily removal of the sections from the brackets,-even though they are tilted from their normal positions in vertical planes parallel to the side walls of the car, and the construction of the guideways and of the sections prevents the removal of the sections from the guideways, except a movement therefrom into the brackets. I By means of the invention herein described, I have accomplished the important objects of permitting the door sections to be readily operated by one person located either inside or outside of the car and of preventing binding of the sections in the guideways, so that they fall freely to'door-closing positions after being elevated over the flanges 42 of the brackets. When the door sections are either raised or lowered, the free movement thereof is insured even when the sections are engaged only .at an intermediate point which ordinarily tends. to tilt the sections,

in a plane extending longitudinally of ,the

purposes of illustration,- it will be understood. 7

that it may be embodied in various other forms without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined 'in.-the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a railway car, a wall having a door opening therein, grooved guideways along the vertical edgesof said opening, door sections having the end portions thereof engaging said guideways, and means associated with said door sectlons and Sfllclgllltlfl ways for putting said sections under tension between their ends when tilted to limiting,- positions in the plane of saiddoor opening. 2. In a railway car,a wall having a doorl opening therein, guideways alongthe vertical edges of said opening, and door sections having parts engag ng said guideways, said door sections and said 'guideways having coacting parts for putting said sections under tension between diagonally oppositecon, nersthereof when tilted to limiting posis, tions in the plane of. said door opening...

3. In a railway car, a wallhavinga doQr opening therein, guideways along the vertical edges of. said door o 3en1ng,sa1d,gu1deways comprising vertical metallic. members 1;

extending transverselyof said car, anddoor. sections adaptedto travel in said guidew-ays, said door,- SGCtlOIlS. having angularly d1s posed parts adapted to enter said guideways and to coact with said metallic members on,

the inner sides of said guideways when said door sections are tilted, whereby the diago nal tensile stresses produced ineach, door section by the tilting thereof operate to prevent the binding of the door sectiondue to;

the action of said metallic members.

4. In arailway car, a car, wallhaving a,

door openingtherein, door posts at the edges of said dooropening guide-plates attached;

to and spacedfrom said door, posts and haw ing flanges extending. inwardly toward said,

"the ends of said sections and extending zbe tween said door posts and the flanges of said guide plates, said second named plates have posts,. door sections, andv plates attached to ing parts extending transversely of the car 1 within the guideways formed by said guide plates,

said transversely extendingparts of; said second named plates being normally.

closer to. said inwardly extending flanges,

of said guide platesthamto the lateral trans versely extending walls of said guideways.

5. In a railway car, a Wall having a door opening therein, a door post along each vertical edge of said door opening, a metallic guide plate carried by said door post and having its edge bent inwardly toward said post to form a Vertical slot, communicating with an inner guideway of greater Width than said slot, a plurality of complementary door sections adapted to close said door opening, and brackets attached to each corner of said door sections and extending into said guideways, said brackets having angularly disposed flanges Within saidguideways said brackets being adapted to coact With said transversely bent parts of said guide plates when said door sections are tilted and thereby preventing the binding of said sections between said door posts.

In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name.

EDWARD POSSON. e

door 

